The Power of Showing Up for Your Commitments – June G.

About This Speaker Tape

Venice Beach, 1972. Barefoot, draped in motorcycle chains, and smelling of cigars, June G. stood at the doors of a meeting as a greeter—a "tough broad" who looked like a walking wreckage. For June, alcohol and barbiturates weren't for partying; they were a buffer against a world that felt like being cut up inside with knives. Having attempted suicide since age five, June viewed the world through a lens of rage and weakness, fighting groups of five or more just so no one would notice she never actually won a fight.

The shift didn't happen through a sudden epiphany, but through the grit of showing up. June describes the slow grind of sobriety: stealing the Big Book from a library, failing at secretarial school, and being told she lacked common sense. By clinging to simple service commitments—making coffee and shaking hands when she hated everyone in the room—June moved from the vault of a bank to graduating third in her college class.

Topics

Timestamps

• 0:00 June G. opens with a joke about her husband and the nature of her talk.
• 11:50 June G. describes her childhood obsession with suicide and self-harm starting at age five.
• 18:30 The 'tough broad' persona in Venice Beach and the logic of fighting groups of five.
• 24:10 Meeting Paul, the tattooed biker, and the realization that 'tough' people also come to AA.
• 31:00 The near-fatal overdose and the start of her 26 years of sobriety.
• 38:20 Laughter: Stories of her early sobriety attireu2014barefoot, motorcycle chains, and cigars.
• 46:10 The struggle with literacy and taking a 'dummy English' class to understand the Big Book.
• 52:00 Amends: Returning stolen Big Books and the 12 and 12 to the Santa Monica Library.
• 58:10 The journey through law school and the relationship with her sponsor, Gail W.
• 1:05:00 The emotional turning point at the banquet where she finally accepted herself.
• 1:15:00 Reflections on motherhood and the cycle of alcoholic homes.
• 1:20:00 Closing reading from the Big Book regarding the fellowship as a substitute for alcohol.